Azerbaijan activist Zamin Salayev placed in punishment cell over AC demand

Zamin Salayev

An Azerbaijani opposition activist has been placed in a punishment cell after protesting against the lack of air conditioning in his prison during hot weather, his family says.

Zamin Salayev, who heads the Salyan regional branch of the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP), was moved to the disciplinary cell at Prison No. 11, his relatives said.

According to his family, Salayev had demanded that the prison administration replace old, ineffective fans with air conditioning units to cope with rising summer temperatures.

Following the protest, prison officials transferred him to the punishment block.

Salayev has been in detention since 7 February 2023. He is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of hooliganism involving a weapon by the Garadagh District Court.

Prosecution materials from his trial alleged that Salayev insulted a man named Natiq Suleymanov at a roundabout in Lokbatan, near the capital Baku, before punching him and wounding him with a knife.

Salayev, also known to his family and party colleagues as Alizamin, has previously served multiple administrative detentions for charges including resisting police.

In April 2020, he was sentenced to two years and three months in prison on charges of slander and insult.